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By Lonnie Watson
For several months, I’ve been doing Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program. In it, Jim talks about doing exercises for assistance that build muscle mass. He advocates doing several reps of dips and pull-ups every week. At one point, I believe he states we should do 50 dips a week weighted or 100 dips a week with just body weight. If memory serves, he advocates doing something similar with chin-ups or pull-ups.
I was pondering this set/rep scheme and here’s what I discovered. There are several exercises where doing a set number of total reps for the week would be beneficial. Let’s take a look at these exercises, the sets/reps involved, how they can benefit you in your strength and conditioning program, and when or where to plug them into your routine.
Pull-ups/chins-ups
Pull-ups or chin-ups are a powerful assistance exercise for your bench press and deadlift. It works the lats, upper back, and biceps. Do a minimum of 50 reps a week in addition to the rowing you already do. Then gradually increase this until you’re doing 100 reps with body weight or 50 reps weighted. You can do these on your bench day, deadlift day, or extra day.
Dips
Dips are a powerful shoulder, tricep, and pec builder. This exercise will revolutionize your upper body strength. Your bench and your overhead pressing will benefit greatly from this exercise. Do 50 reps starting off with just body weight. Then increase it until you’re doing 100 body weight reps. If you’re doing weighted dips, work up to 50 reps. You can do these on either your bench day, overhead press day, or separate day.
Shrugs
I have puny traps compared to what I’d like to have. Many guys get ample trap work from their deadlifts and other upper body stuff. I don’t. So I’m going to start doing a minimum of 50 reps of trap work once or twice a week. Like the dips and pull-ups, you don’t need a huge amount of weight. This is supposed to compliment your upper body work, not take away from it.
One way to accomplish this is by doing barbell or dumbbell shrugs for 5 sets of 10–15 reps twice a week. Another way is do your reps in a “Kroc rep” style. Kroc reps are similar to the Kroc dumbbell row where you take a moderate to heavy weight and row it for reps of 20–40. Do this with barbell and dumbbell shrugs. Do 3 sets of 20–40 reps twice a week.
Upright rows
The upright row is an exercise that used to be a staple for lifters and bodybuilders all over the world, but in powerlifting, it isn’t quite as popular as it used to be. This might be partially due to the popularity of the face pull, the band pull apart and other upper back/delt exercises. But this is an invaluable exercise for the upper back, traps, and delts.
I do 5 sets of 10–15 reps weekly. You can do these on either of your upper body days or split it up between two days. Or do it on a separate day. You don’t need to use a ton of weight but make sure you increase gradually over a period of weeks.
Band push-downs
This is an old Westside Barbell staple. Take a light band, mini band, or whatever size you want and throw it over a door. Do 100 reps once or twice a week. This exercise pushes up my triceps strength and keeps my elbows healthy at the same time. You can do this while you’re watching television or while you’re at work.
Push-ups
This is an excellent exercise for the triceps and pecs. I recently started doing this exercise again on my job as a prison boot camp drill instructor. While my knuckleheads are doing push-ups for physical therapy, I’m doing them, too. If you aren’t used to push-ups, start off with 50 reps a week and work from there.
This was the case with me. I had been bench pressing for 10 years and had hardly done any push-ups. I took a physical fitness test and my push-ups were pitiful. I only did about 50. Needless to say, since I’ve started doing them again, my bench and other upper body movements have gotten stronger. Just be careful if you’re already doing dips because doing this exercise as well may put too much strain on your elbows.
These can be done with either a close or a wide grip, and you can do them on either of the two upper body days or on a separate day.
Neck
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ve researched it. Take a neck harness and do 50–100 reps per week. This isn’t done with super heavy weight. The goal is to just get some volume in. When you hit 50 reps a week, increase it by 10. Keep doing this until you have 100 with a given weight. Neck work should be done 2–3 times a week. I have a neck harness, and I’m going to do this.
Calves
Okay, many people will scoff at this. Calves are looked upon by powerlifters, Strongmen, and other strength athletes as a showy, even gay muscle to develop. But if you have puny calves like I do, this is a good exercise to bring them up. Like with the other exercises, do 50 total reps and increase that over a period of weeks. This can be done on either lower body day (squat or deadlift) or on a separate day.
Abs
Once again, do 50 total reps and work from there. This is in addition to the abdominal work you already do.
When is the best time?
This article is designed to be used with the 5/3/1 program, though you can use it in other programs as well. You can do these exercises as your main assistance work after your main exercise in your 5/3/1 (bench, deadlift, squat, overhead press) routine or do them as a separate workout on a separate (or the same) day.
I train my main lifts over a rotating three-day program, so I’m pondering adding a fourth “wild card day” to do calves, shrugs, band push-downs, and pull-ups. I do my pull-ups both during an upper body day and/or as a separate workout. The bottom line is get the work in! Whether it’s on a separate day or during your main workouts, get in some dips, pull-ups, and upper back work at a minimum.
Just remember the old Westside philosophy. Extra workouts must compliment your main lifts, not take away from them. If your main lifts start to suffer consistently, back it off some. What I mean by consistently is your lifts may suffer for a week of two from the extra work. No problem. If your lifts go in the toilet, you’re doing something wrong.
When doing 50s as assistance on your main lift days, you should be doing no more than 3–4 assistance exercises including your 50s. For example, do your 5/3/1 bench. Let’s say you hit your three work sets with 75, 80, and 85 percent of your training max like the program calls for. Then you do either the “boring but big” bench with about 50 percent of your max for 5 sets of 10 or you do an overhead press variation for 5 sets of 10 again with a light weight (40–50 percent). Follow this with 50–100 reps of pull-ups and some shrugs, and you’re done.
I’ve come to the realization that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I’m ready to see a change. I believe doing 50s will bring about that change. Join me!
Lonnie Watson is a powerlifter, drill instructor, and minister/motivational speaker. He is a member of the Stand Strength Team and speaks in churches, schools, and other gatherings all over the nation.
For several months, I’ve been doing Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program. In it, Jim talks about doing exercises for assistance that build muscle mass. He advocates doing several reps of dips and pull-ups every week. At one point, I believe he states we should do 50 dips a week weighted or 100 dips a week with just body weight. If memory serves, he advocates doing something similar with chin-ups or pull-ups.
I was pondering this set/rep scheme and here’s what I discovered. There are several exercises where doing a set number of total reps for the week would be beneficial. Let’s take a look at these exercises, the sets/reps involved, how they can benefit you in your strength and conditioning program, and when or where to plug them into your routine.
Pull-ups/chins-ups
Pull-ups or chin-ups are a powerful assistance exercise for your bench press and deadlift. It works the lats, upper back, and biceps. Do a minimum of 50 reps a week in addition to the rowing you already do. Then gradually increase this until you’re doing 100 reps with body weight or 50 reps weighted. You can do these on your bench day, deadlift day, or extra day.
Dips
Dips are a powerful shoulder, tricep, and pec builder. This exercise will revolutionize your upper body strength. Your bench and your overhead pressing will benefit greatly from this exercise. Do 50 reps starting off with just body weight. Then increase it until you’re doing 100 body weight reps. If you’re doing weighted dips, work up to 50 reps. You can do these on either your bench day, overhead press day, or separate day.
Shrugs
I have puny traps compared to what I’d like to have. Many guys get ample trap work from their deadlifts and other upper body stuff. I don’t. So I’m going to start doing a minimum of 50 reps of trap work once or twice a week. Like the dips and pull-ups, you don’t need a huge amount of weight. This is supposed to compliment your upper body work, not take away from it.
One way to accomplish this is by doing barbell or dumbbell shrugs for 5 sets of 10–15 reps twice a week. Another way is do your reps in a “Kroc rep” style. Kroc reps are similar to the Kroc dumbbell row where you take a moderate to heavy weight and row it for reps of 20–40. Do this with barbell and dumbbell shrugs. Do 3 sets of 20–40 reps twice a week.
Upright rows
The upright row is an exercise that used to be a staple for lifters and bodybuilders all over the world, but in powerlifting, it isn’t quite as popular as it used to be. This might be partially due to the popularity of the face pull, the band pull apart and other upper back/delt exercises. But this is an invaluable exercise for the upper back, traps, and delts.
I do 5 sets of 10–15 reps weekly. You can do these on either of your upper body days or split it up between two days. Or do it on a separate day. You don’t need to use a ton of weight but make sure you increase gradually over a period of weeks.
Band push-downs
This is an old Westside Barbell staple. Take a light band, mini band, or whatever size you want and throw it over a door. Do 100 reps once or twice a week. This exercise pushes up my triceps strength and keeps my elbows healthy at the same time. You can do this while you’re watching television or while you’re at work.
Push-ups
This is an excellent exercise for the triceps and pecs. I recently started doing this exercise again on my job as a prison boot camp drill instructor. While my knuckleheads are doing push-ups for physical therapy, I’m doing them, too. If you aren’t used to push-ups, start off with 50 reps a week and work from there.
This was the case with me. I had been bench pressing for 10 years and had hardly done any push-ups. I took a physical fitness test and my push-ups were pitiful. I only did about 50. Needless to say, since I’ve started doing them again, my bench and other upper body movements have gotten stronger. Just be careful if you’re already doing dips because doing this exercise as well may put too much strain on your elbows.
These can be done with either a close or a wide grip, and you can do them on either of the two upper body days or on a separate day.
Neck
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’ve researched it. Take a neck harness and do 50–100 reps per week. This isn’t done with super heavy weight. The goal is to just get some volume in. When you hit 50 reps a week, increase it by 10. Keep doing this until you have 100 with a given weight. Neck work should be done 2–3 times a week. I have a neck harness, and I’m going to do this.
Calves
Okay, many people will scoff at this. Calves are looked upon by powerlifters, Strongmen, and other strength athletes as a showy, even gay muscle to develop. But if you have puny calves like I do, this is a good exercise to bring them up. Like with the other exercises, do 50 total reps and increase that over a period of weeks. This can be done on either lower body day (squat or deadlift) or on a separate day.
Abs
Once again, do 50 total reps and work from there. This is in addition to the abdominal work you already do.
When is the best time?
This article is designed to be used with the 5/3/1 program, though you can use it in other programs as well. You can do these exercises as your main assistance work after your main exercise in your 5/3/1 (bench, deadlift, squat, overhead press) routine or do them as a separate workout on a separate (or the same) day.
I train my main lifts over a rotating three-day program, so I’m pondering adding a fourth “wild card day” to do calves, shrugs, band push-downs, and pull-ups. I do my pull-ups both during an upper body day and/or as a separate workout. The bottom line is get the work in! Whether it’s on a separate day or during your main workouts, get in some dips, pull-ups, and upper back work at a minimum.
Just remember the old Westside philosophy. Extra workouts must compliment your main lifts, not take away from them. If your main lifts start to suffer consistently, back it off some. What I mean by consistently is your lifts may suffer for a week of two from the extra work. No problem. If your lifts go in the toilet, you’re doing something wrong.
When doing 50s as assistance on your main lift days, you should be doing no more than 3–4 assistance exercises including your 50s. For example, do your 5/3/1 bench. Let’s say you hit your three work sets with 75, 80, and 85 percent of your training max like the program calls for. Then you do either the “boring but big” bench with about 50 percent of your max for 5 sets of 10 or you do an overhead press variation for 5 sets of 10 again with a light weight (40–50 percent). Follow this with 50–100 reps of pull-ups and some shrugs, and you’re done.
I’ve come to the realization that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I’m ready to see a change. I believe doing 50s will bring about that change. Join me!
Lonnie Watson is a powerlifter, drill instructor, and minister/motivational speaker. He is a member of the Stand Strength Team and speaks in churches, schools, and other gatherings all over the nation.
